OMG look at this, two updates in a fortnight, that is wild for me! It certainly helps that I've had the story finished for a while and its just the editing I needed to do and I managed that during the week. I also didn't want to leave you all hanging after last week so here we are. I hope you enjoy.
The Show Must Go On
The announcement rang through the halls of Hogwarts.
Harry was dead.
Severus' group had been lying in wait and every one of them gasped in shock at what they heard next; Severus on the other hand couldn't react at all. Never in his life had he imagined ever again feeling the loss he'd experienced the day he'd found Lilly dead on Harry's bedroom floor. Somehow the devastation that filled his soul right at that moment was even worse. He closed his eyes, imagining Harry's smiling face, and tears pricked at the back of his eyelids.
Hermione's soft whimper broke him out of his grief and reminded him that there were others depending on him right at that moment and he didn't have time to break down. He reached back to lightly grasp Hermione's arm and whispered, "Strength, Miss Granger, people are depending on us."
He didn't look at her, but he felt the way her arm trembled in his hand and he heard her breathing hitch several times before she calmed it and herself. A few moments was all it took to regain her composure, and while he'd never admit it to anyone, he admired her greatly for it.
The Gargoyle moved in front of Dumbledore's office and they all drew back further into the shadows as the man himself strode down the stairs and along the corridor. This was it, time to move.
As they set their plan into motion Severus spared a thought for his beloved Remus. He could only hope the man kept it together long enough not to be caught.
XX
Remus dropped to the floor, the pain in his soul making him want to scream and lash out at anything nearby. He'd lost Harry, just like he'd lost Lilly, James and Sirius, but somehow this loss was even worse; the devastation was making it hard to breathe.
"Remus, I know you're grieving, but we still have work to do."
The words made Remus snap his head up and at whichever twin had dare dismiss Harry's death like that. Then he saw the tears in the young man's eyes and he knew that wasn't what this was. The boy was right, they had a job to do, and everyone else was depending on them. Pushing his anguish aside he brought his focus back to helping Fred and George finish their preparations.
When this was all over he would have plenty of time to grieve.
He hoped Severus was okay.
XX
Tom only made it as far as the courtyard before he came across Dumbledore and he gave the man a venomous smile as he approached. "Come to joint he fight at last, Head Master? For a minute there I thought your cowardice would keep you indoors and I'd have to search the whole castle for you."
"You speak to me of cowardice and yet you didn't come alone," Dumbledore stated, looking pointedly toward the LeStrange brothers who were standing behind him.
"Oh they're not here to help me," Voldemort replied. "You're all mine. They're here to make sure we're not interrupted by anyone on your side." He waved the pair away and they walked around either side of the courtyard, a hand each resting on the stone wall as they walked along, but neither drawing their wands. They did exactly as Voldemort had ordered, disappearing in through the door Dumbledore had just exited and closing it behind them.
"Alone at last," Dumbledore stated, drawing his wand.
"Music to my ears," Voldemort replied, drawing his.
A long silence fell over them … and then the duel began.
Magic sparked around the courtyard, each wizard throwing his best spells at the other while defending and dodging at the same time.
"You're weaker than I expected, Tom!" Dumbledore taunted.
"And yet still strong enough to end you!" Tom snarled back, throwing his anger into the next spell that caught Dumbledore in the shoulder.
The man growled angrily and threw his own into the next spell he fired back. Tom countered with his own and their magic met in the middle, creating a massive ball of magical energy between them that eventually exploded outward, knocking them off their feet.
XX
Everything was sorted and Rabastan and Rodolphus were in place so they'd obviously done their part, it was time to set the final plan in motion. Remus and the twins made their way swiftly toward the great hall and Remus' relief was immense when Severus and his group arrived shortly after.
"Is everything ready?" the potions master asked.
"Yes. You obviously got what we needed," Remus commented, motioning toward the large bowl and the glowing bottles floating behind Severus.
"I did indeed."
"All right then, everybody get into your positions and let's do this," Remus ordered. Severus handed him the bowl and sent a quiet spell toward the door that all the teachers of hogwarts had to know in case there was a lockdown of the castle but they needed to get stray students in after the doors were secured. He checked that the coast was clear then motioned for everyone to slip in behind him.
The wall of noise hit Remus as he followed Severus in and for a moment he smiled at how effective the Dark lord's announcement had been at stirring everyone up. Then he remembered the content of that announcement and the smile immediately died. He, Severus and their group spread themselves around the room, effectively encircling the currently arguing mob and getting them into the position they needed.
When Severus was sure they were all in place he sent a spell toward the bewitched night sky to bring a large body of rain down on the room's occupants to get their attention.
There was a general outcry of annoyance as the water was cold, but the group quickly quietened when they realised they were surrounded.
"Severus!" McGonagall stated in surprise. "We thought you were dead. And Remus, we thought you'd gone on a fools quest to find Harry."
"Well you were wrong on both accounts, Minerva, although we have been taking care of Harry," Severus clarified.
"So you are with the dark after all," she said sadly.
"I am indeed and knowing what I know about Dumbledore it's the side I would much rather be on," Severus replied.
"What do you mean?" Sprout asked.
"You heard the dark lord's announcement did you not? What he said about the Head Master was all true, and thanks to some clever planning on behalf of myself and those I've come with I will be able to prove it," Severus explained.
"You're lying!" Ron snarled. "You're just a filthy traitor who-"
A binding spell cut him off mid sentence and Remus looked round to see Hermione with her wand pointed in Ron's direction. "Shut up, Ronald!" she snarled. "You're in no position to be giving anyone else a hard time over being a traitor."
Remus smiled, 'go Hermione!'
"Now that the noise is taken care of, if you'd all like to gather around the bowl," Remus invited as Severus walked over to one of the house tables to put the bowl down. "There is a lot for you to view, and I will warn you, it will not be pleasant."
He dropped the spell he and the twins had created for this very moment into the bowl and a beam of light flashed out of it's centre, fanning out to make a screen of sorts, allowing everyone to view the scenes at once rather than a few entering the pensive at a time. Severus grabbed the first glowing bottle and poured it's contents into the bowl. Seconds later images appeared on the screen and the gathered group gasped in horror at what they saw.
Severus had seen it all and he had no real desire to see it again, so when Remus moved to his side and reached for his hand he slipped his fingers through the werewolf's and leant over to give his love a kiss on the head. He knew Remus wanted to crawl into his arms and cry over Harry's loss, but the man kept his feelings in check and only squeezed Severus' hand every once in a while, which Severus didn't mind at all. When everything was over he and Remus would spend a good long while mourning Harry, for now Severus took comfort in his lover's close proximity and used it to bolster his own outer walls as he was doing for Remus.
He really loved the werewolf, and in a brief moment of weakness he leant across and whispered that very sentiment into his lover's ear, wanting to offer a little more comfort to the grieving man. He caught Remus whispered reply as he pulled away and it brought him a little more comfort as well, which he was grateful for. He was so glad they were together, if nothing else came of this awful year, at least he had Remus.
XX
Darkness surrounded him, a feeling of weightlessness and disorientation filled his being and he couldn't even begin to fathom where he was. He tried to call out to someone, anyone who might be nearby, only to realise he didn't seem to have a mouth anymore let alone vocal cords. Where was he? What was going on? He had a moment for panic to set in before a bright, red light appeared in front of him. He tried to focus on it, but again he didn't really have eyes anymore, which begged the question of how he could see at all. The red light slowly formed into a door that swung open and suddenly he was being pulled forward.
Bright, red light surrounded him and when it cleared he found himself face to face with a small, scrawny being that he immediately recognised as what Voldemort looked like before Wormtail had completed his resurrection back in Harry's fourth year. This time, when Harry opened his mouth to speak, he was pleasantly surprised to find he actually had one, and the words came out as he intended.
"You're Tom's Horcrux aren't you?" He asked.
"Yes," the being's scratchy voice replied.
"What are you doing here? Where am I? Am I … Am I dead?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"Yes."
Harry sighed sadly, "I was afraid you were going to say that. So what are you doing here?"
"I'm … about to do something I really don't want to do," the horcrux replied. "But since my existence will never be of any use otherwise… I figure I may as well."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
The horcrux looked cranky. "Don't make me say it!" it snapped. "Just sit there quietly and wait for a minute. You're body isn't ready for you to return to it yet and I don't want to have to listen to you yapping while we're forced to wait."
For a moment Harry was confused about what it meant, then its words finally sunk in. "You're going to save me?" he asked in shock. "Why? How?"
It sighed as if put upon, "Fine, if we must interact while we wait I will tell you. How? Well I was created by the dark Lord to return him to life and provide him with a vessel to interact with the world until his was properly prepared. Doing all of that would take a lot more energy than bringing your soul back to your pre prepared body," he explained, a superior air to his voice. "As for why, well, we both know The Dark Lord will never use me to resurrect him, I may as well do something useful."
"Won't that mean you'll die?" Harry asked.
"Dying is a far preferable alternative to spending the rest of your life in your head," it grumbled.
"Why do you dislike me so much?" Harry asked. "You know Tom loves me right?"
"Not when he created me he certainly didn't," the horcrux replied. "But it matters not. You're going to help the Dark Lord defeat Dumbledore, so I will bring you back, because the only person I want to see dead more than you is Dumbledore."
"Well, thank you … I guess," Harry replied.
"It is time now, prepare yourself," it hissed and white light began to filter through into the space Harry currently occupied.
"Thank you," Harry said in parting as a pulling sensation gripped him.
The horcrux just growled at him in reply, before it disappeared completely from in front of him and the pulling turned to heaviness. Harry was expecting to wake up in pain, he wasn't at all prepared for the powerful feeling he experienced as he opened his eyes and looked up into Luna's lovely, concerned face.
"Luna," he greeted her quietly.
"Harry," she greeted him back with a soft smile.
"How?" he asked and she held up a suspiciously familiar bottle which now contained only a small amount of glowing liquid. The healing liquid, Harry had completely forgotten about it… But if Luna had it then that meant … "Narcissa."
"She's already had some," Luna reassured him. "She's on her way to help Lucius and Draco now." she leaned forward to help him sit up. "You have to go too, The Dark Lord will need your help to defeat Dumbledore. Before you go though, there are some things you need to know about this healing liquid."
"What things?" Harry asked.
XX
The Bastards who'd taken Draco had managed to find a rather defensible location in which to hide from him. Lucius knew he was in bad shape by the time he made it through their defensive line, but it mattered not to him. He'd already lost his wife, he wouldn't lose his son too; he'd die first, or afterwards, which was looking more and more likely. He blew a tree to pieces to make an easier path for himself and limped into the thicket, immediately taking in the sight of Draco lying unconscious in the leaf litter, while the rest of the young people who'd taken him stood between him and Lucius.
"Well well, Malfoy, I don't think I've ever seen you looking so poorly," One of the young people commented.
Lucius held his want up in front of him. "Release my son," he snarled.
"If you want him, come and get him," the same one who'd said it before taunted and Lucius threw a curse at the annoying twat before he could even think to deflect. The following duel was costly for Lucius, and if he'd thought he was in bad shape before, he was circling the drain now. Still, he was victorious, and all that remained in his way now were a couple of younger students.
"Do you really want to take me on?" he snarled at the youngsters who looked absolutely terrified. One of them stepped up though and held out his wand, even though the arm holding it was shaking.
"You killed my father," he said shakily.
"Was he one of the bastards who attacked my wife and a house full of ladies having a social afternoon? Because if so then yes, I would have killed him, and he would have deserved nothing else." Lucius didn't wait for the boy to caste anything at him, he sent him flying back into the rest of the group with an expelliamus, too worn our magically to do anything more difficult. He limped up to Draco then and the rest of the group scurried away as he dropped down beside his son and pulled him into his arms.
"Draco, my boy, please wake up," he whispered, stroking the boy's hair back and looking over him for injuries.
"Father?" it was the most wonderful sound Lucius could ever imagine hearing and he watched in relief as Draco's stormy eyes slipped open and looked up at him. They stared at him for a moment before filling with horror as they obviously took in all the injuries currently littering Lucius' body. "Father, you're-"
"I'm dying Draco," he cut off whatever the boy was going to say.
"No," Draco gasped, pulling out of Lucius' grasp and searching for his wand, no doubt intending to use his healing craft to try and save his father.
"No, don't, Draco, I'm well past anyone's ability to heal now," Lucius stopped him, his hand gently closing over Draco's.
"No," Draco argued, his eyes filling with tears. "No I won't let you, you can't, please."
Lucius smiled at his beautiful son, reaching out to gently touch his face. "You were the most wonderful gift I could ever have received," he said softly. "You and your mother were everything to me and I was so happy. I'm not good at communication, Draco, but I hope you've always known I love you and I'm so proud of the incredible man you've become."
"I love you too, father" Draco replied tearfully. "And I always knew. If I'm an incredible man it's only because I had one to model myself after. Please, I don't want to live the rest of my life without you, I need you."
"No you don't," Lucius replied. "You're going to be fine, better than fine, you'll be amazing." Draco closed his eyes and leant forward to hold Lucius, sobbing into his shoulder. "Live your life well," Lucius whispered. "Be happy, love that young lady like she deserves and everything will be fine."
He felt himself getting faint and he held onto Draco, wanting to stay with him as long as he could. He felt the darkness closing in on him, felt himself slipping away, he stopped being able to hear or feel anything outside of himself and he knew it was the end. The time had come for him to join his wife.
Then, suddenly, he was cocooned in warmth and life flowed back into him again. He didn't know what was happening, but suddenly his senses were returning to him and the first thing he heard was the most beautiful thing he could have imagined hearing at that moment.
"Lucius, darling, can you hear me?" He forced his eyes open and looked up at his beautiful wife. She was surrounded by bright, golden light and he wondered for a moment if he'd died and not noticed it. Then he heard Draco echo his mother's words from the other side of him and he realised that he wasn't dead at all. He was alive and so was Narcissa.
"Sweetheart, can you hear me?" Narcissa asked again.
"Cissa," he gasped in reply and he saw her beautiful eyes fill with relief.
"I'm here, darling" she replied, stroking his hair gently.
He looked from her to Draco several times, before the reality of what was happening really sunk in. Then, in a fashion that was completely contrary to pure blood behaviour, he burst into tears, burying his face in her chest and wrapping his arms around her.
"It's okay, sweetheart," she soothed, holding him just as tightly. "It's all going to be all right."
He felt Draco's body press against his back and he savoured the feeling of his perfect little family all together again. He didn't know how this was possible, but he was grateful to whatever miracle it was that had made it so. He would hold onto his family as tightly as he could from now on, he would be the best husband and father ever to exist, whatever it took. He would cherish every moment he had with them, forever.
XX
Tom dropped to the ground, both of his arms broken and useless, a large gash in the back of his head was bleeding heavily and Tom was sure he had far more broken bones and internal injuries that he couldn't feel because his nerves were fried. Dumbledore was't fairing all that much better, but he was faring better, and that made Tom really angry. Of course he shouldn't have been surprised and he wasn't, it didn't stop him from being severely pissed off.
"It's over, Tom. You never should have faced me, you're too weak," Dumbledore gloated as he stood over Voldemort with his wand aloft.
"You're right," Tom agreed, "Now probably wasn't the best time to face you. I used a lot of energy on the plans I had for today and even more trying to save Harry, so now probably wasn't the best day for it. You know perfectly well why I did though, since you created the situation that brought us here, so you shouldn't be surprised."
"When I saw the way you guarded Harry during the earlier duels I knew he'd be a weak point for you, all that was left was to exploit it."
"And of course you feel no remorse at all for you actions."
"None whatsoever," Dumbledore replied with a satisfied smile. "Harry was nothing but a pawn to me, just like you were. His death was always going to serve my purpose in some way, although this wasn't at all the way that I expected. Still, I've achieved what I set out to; soon you'll be dead, and when word spreads that I rid the world of you, the power to rule the world will be mine."
"You sound very confident there, Dumbledore."
"Of course I am. People are so stupid; all you need to know is which button to press and you can manipulate them without much effort at all. I created the perfect villain in you and had everyone so frightened that they'd be willing to do anything to have you gone. Now, as I kill you, I will have created the perfect hero of myself and thus my plans are complete."
"So why haven't you killed me then? What's the hold up?" Voldemort asked.
"Well, as much as I want you gone, I've finally got you at my mercy and I find myself enjoying it far more than even I thought I would." Dumbledore sneered. "I am going to kill you, that was never in question, but there's really no hurry. Everyone in the castle is far too scared to come up here and see what is going on, pathetic cowards the lot of them,"
"They're children," Tom reminded him.
"That's no excuse," Dumbledore hissed. "Whinging little whiners, the lot of them, I'll be so glad when I don't have to be surrounded by them every second of the day anymore. You may hate me for what I did to you, but at least it toughened you up a bit, Harry as well, you weren't whinging little whiners like these other children. Too pampered they are, in their safe, warm, comfortable lives, they can't deal with even the most simple issues."
"Why yes, absolutely, it is such a luxury to actually grow up in a safe environment where people love them and take care of them, what are we thinking raising children like that? Better to turn them into monsters and martyrs," Tom snarled sarcastically.
"At least I wouldn't have to listen to them crying all the time over stupid nonsense," Dumbledore grumbled. "You never did that." He stopped, looking thoughtful. "Actually that's true, you never cried, not once that I saw. I was glad for that when you were a child, but I have to admit, I'd love to see it now. A sobbing Dark Lord would make this victory all the sweeter."
Tom scoffed, "And how exactly do you think you're going to achieve that, you twisted old bastard? Even leaving me in an orphanage full of muggles who beat and starved me as a child didn't produce that kind of reaction. There's nothing you could possibly do now to get it."
"Really? Not even if I tell you all the horrid things I've done to you that you never even knew were happening? Not even if I tell you how I arranged to have your parents killed just so you would become my porn, or how I arranged it so that you'd find out exactly where James and Lilly were hiding so you'd find them and be able to kill them? How about if I tell you all the awful things I used to do to Harry when he was sleeping or have others do when I wasn't around? No, still nothing? Well how about I talk about how sweet our dearly departed Mr Potter was and how heart wrenching it must be to know that you will never get to look into his beautiful, green eyes, or run your fingers through his soft, crazy hair ever again? Tell me that's not going to bring out some tears."
The man knew which buttons to push, but as much as Tom wanted to cry for the loss of his love, he knew Dumbledore had worked perfectly into his plan and he pushed back the tears in favour of a self satisfied smirk that he knew would unnerve the old man.
"You're really not as clever as you think you are you know."
"Oh and how exactly do you figure that? I have won, you are lying defeated at my feet."
"And yet you'll find that in fact I have won and you never had so much as a single clue that it was happening," Tom replied, the smirk growing wider.
"What are you talking about?"
"You were right before when you said I never should have taken you on in my condition. I knew that and you knew that I did, so why do you think I did it anyway? Why not wait until I was fully healed and return?"
"Because you were too angry and distraught to care," Dumbledore replied.
"Oh yes, I was plenty of that, but even if I had been so completely out of my mind that I couldn't consider my own safety don't you think my death eaters or Nagini might have had something to say?"
"They'd never question you."
"Wrong again. Nagini questions me all the time, she's like a nagging mother when she wants to be. She didn't want to let me go but she did, because she knew there was a good reason." Dumbledore was looking worried and furious now and Tom's smile only widened. "Did you not stop to think for one minute about what those plans I mentioned earlier might be? Did you really think I would attack Hogwarts without plans in place to ensure my victory? Come now, Dumbledore, you know me better than that."
"What have you done?" Dumbledore demanded.
"Oh, just put a few monitoring spells in place here and there, sent death eaters into your office to retrieve your pensieve and all those naughty little memories you like to keep locked up with it to re-watch when you have an urge, like the sick freak that you are. By now those memories should have been viewed by everyone you're counting on to back your bid to rule the world; oh and smile, because all of this is being watched and listened to by those very same people. Who wins now, Dumbledore?" he asked as the man began to snarl and magic built up around him. "I may never get to rule the world, but you sure as hell won't either."
The magic swelled and intensified around Dumbledore and Tom closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come. He'd never wanted to die, had done everything possible to prolong his life, but that was before he'd known how it felt to be truly whole. Without Harry he'd never feel that again and he never wanted to return to the emptiness his life had been before. He could only hope that some day, somewhere, he and Harry would find each other again, and maybe this time they could be what they were meant to be to each other from the beginning.
"I'm coming my love," he whispered into the darkness.
Dumbledore's pain-filled scream made him snap his eyes open again and it was just in time to see another spell blast into the old man, sending him flying back into the castle wall. Tom looked around to see who'd caste the spell and felt his heart leap in his chest as Harry's beautiful form materialised before him.
"Harry," Voldemort gasped, completely incapable of processing any rational thought right at that moment.
Harry didn't waste a moment, advancing on Dumbledore and shooting a disarming spell to knock the wand from his hand and into Harry's before firing another attack at the man that slashed the front of his chest open and soaked his hideous robes in blood. "Harry," Dumbledore gasped, "I thought you were dead."
"Did you really think I would be that easy to get rid of?" Harry snarled. "I've got news for you, old man, you don't know me as well as you think you do." He fired another slashing spell at Dumbledore, this time at his stomach and Tom enjoyed the old man's cry of pain. A binding spell followed this and Dumbledore dropped to the ground. Harry advanced on the downed man, kneeling down in front of him so they were face to face and glaring into his eyes. "You ruined my life," Harry snarled. "You ruined Tom's life, and in doing so you caused the death of hundreds of people, including my parents. I am going to see to it that you pay dearly for those sins."
"Harry," Dumbledore gasped again. "Please … it was for the greater good."
"Oh shut up, old man! Nobody's buying that rubbish anymore, least of all me," Harry snarled.
Dumbledore's face contorted into an ugly sneer. "Well, it was worth a shot. You're right I destroyed your lives and I would do it again in a heartbeat. You are nothing to me but-" Harry tightened the binding spell cutting off Dumbledore's ability to speak but leaving it loose enough that it wouldn't kill him.
"You probably think I'm going to kill you now and I have definitely thought about it." Dumbledore's glare intensified. "I won't though," Dumbledore looked surprised and hopeful, "because a death in combat would be far kinder than you deserve." The old man's glare was back. "Instead I've thought up a far more fitting punishment for you, one that will pay you back for all the pain and suffering you've caused others threefold. I am going to watch every minute of your suffering and I am going to enjoy it, I can't wait to see how much you do too."
It was the smallest flex in the old man's fingers, but Voldemort saw it and he was about to shout out for Harry to look out when a wandless spell from Harry broke those fingers clean in half.
"Uh uh, old man, we wouldn't want you missing out on your payback now would we?" Harry asked waving his wand. The next spell was one Voldemort had never heard before and it froze Dumbledore like an ice cube, he wasn't even breathing.
Harry pocketed his wand as well as Dumbledore's and ran over to Tom, dropping to his knees and lifting Tom up into his arms. "Tom, love, are you all right?" He asked worriedly. Tom just stared at Harry, suddenly realising that his vision had started to blur. For a moment he thought he was going to pass out, then he realised that for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was crying. The orphanage hadn't done it with all of their abuse, Dumbledore hadn't done it with his evil machinations, but Harry … Harry was different, he was worth the Dark Lord's tears.
"Harry," he gasped, blinking to clear his vision and he saw sadness and understanding fill Harry's beautiful eyes before the younger man pulled him close, holding him tightly against his chest. Tom snuggled into him, not bothering to fight the sobs rising in his chest.
"I'm here, love," Harry whispered, stroking his hair gently. "I'm right here."
Tom felt a soft warmth flow through his body and suddenly he realised that all of his pain and weakness were gone. He opened his eyes to see Harry's body glowing a soft yellow and looking down at his arm he realised he was too. It felt vaguely familiar, but his exhausted, overwhelmed mind couldn't work out why. His gaze flew up to Harry, "What's happening?" he asked, worried that Harry was some sort of ghost that was going to last only a short time before fading away and leaving him forever.
'It's the healing liquid," Harry explained and Voldemort remembered the small bottle he kept in the cupboard in his room. It had been so long since he'd used it he'd forgotten it was even there. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it while Harry had been dying or Narcissa … wait "Narcissa," he said aloud. If they could get some of the liquid to her she'd wake up from her coma.
"She's already had some," Harry assured him. "She's out looking for Lucius and Draco right now."
Voldemort sighed in relief. "I can't believe I forgot about it," he said self deprecatingly. "But Harry, you died in my arms, I don't understand how this is possible."
"The healing liquid can do a lot of things, but you're right, it can't heal death," Harry agreed. "It healed my body very well, but it was your horcrux that brought me back," Harry explained.
Voldemort looked up at him wide eyed, "How?" he gasped.
"I don't really know to be honest," Harry replied. "One minute I was dead, the next I was surrounded by this bright red light and I saw the horcrux, looking like you did when Wormtail brought you back. It told me that it would give the magic it contained to bring me back because you needed me to defeat Dumbledore, but it had to wait until my body was ready. I'm not sure how long I waited, but suddenly I was waking up in the medical wing with Luna standing over me," Harry explained. "She told me that the healing liquid had not only healed my body, it would also enhance my magical abilities for a short time as well as allowing me to pass the healing onto others for a few hours as well. I guess Dumbledore didn't know everything about the healing liquid after all."
He stopped talking then and looked down at Tom. "I'm sorry your horcrux is gone, I-"
Tom cut off whatever he was going to say with a thorough kiss, the tears coming back in force as he realised that Harry really was all right and he wasn't going to suddenly disappear or anything similar. Harry kissed him back, slipping his hands back into Tom's hair. The kiss lasted until they were both out of breath and Tom pulled back just enough to lean his forehead against Harry's.
"I love you, Harry, so much," he whispered breathlessly.
"I love you too, Tom," Harry replied.
Voldemort suddenly remembered that all of this was still being broadcasted to the people in the school and had a moment to feel incredibly embarrassed, then he pushed it aside in favour of being happy. So they'd seen him cry, what did it matter? Maybe it would help if the wizarding world knew he could feel things other than hatred and anger.
Whatever else happened in the coming days they'd won the battle, and he had Harry back; nothing else really mattered in the end.
XX
End of Chapter
Aaaaand there we go. The battle is over, the dark have won and Dumbles is set to be executed. Most importantly of all though Harry is back and so is Narcissa. I made Lucius maybe a little OOC in this chapter but I think after all he's been through lately he deserves a few weak moments with his family. I only had one response from the comp I posted in the last chapter disappointingly so no winner sadly. Ah well, I guess a lot of people don't read these notes. The story is not over yet, there is more to come to stay tuned. I actually don't like it when a story ends with the battle being won, I want to see the aftermath, so I wrote it for all of you. I also have most of my epilogue done so that will be along in a short while. One more chapter of the story to go after this one though. Want it sooner? REVIEW/COMMENT! I love it when people fav the story or me but reviews really make my day. I want to grow as a writer so feedback is very much appreciated.. Thank you for those of you who have reviewed or commented so far, I Looooove you!
